Neuqua Valley's Brent Lindenman and Lake Park's Henry Stoever in the 170-pound match of the semifinals in the Upstate Eight mega conference on Saturday, January 19. Stoever took the win.Laura Stoecker | Staff Photographer

Batavia's Jon Wagner and Geneva's Alex Kunkel in the 160-pound match of the semifinals at the Upstate Eight mega conference on Saturday, January 19. Wagner turned it around to take the match.Laura Stoecker | Staff Photographer

Geneva's Alex Kunkel and Batavia's Jon Wagner in the semifinals 160-pound match of the Upstate Eight mega conference on Saturday, January 19. Wagner turned it around to take the match.Laura Stoecker | Staff Photographer

Neuqua Valley's Brent Lindenman and Lake Park's Henry Stoever in the 170-pound match of the semifinals at the Upstate Eight mega conference on Saturday, January 19. Stoever took the win.Laura Stoecker | Staff Photographer

Metea Valley's Kenan Carter takes down Batavia's Charlie Smorczewski in the 138-pound match in the semifinals at the Upstate Eight mega conference on Saturday, January 19.Laura Stoecker | Staff Photographer

St. Charles East's Ramon Lopez takes South Elgin's Ben Abraham in the 152-pound match in the semifinals at the Upstate Eight mega conference on Saturday, January 19.Laura Stoecker | Staff Photographer

When the Waubonsie Valley senior outlasted St. Charles North senior Wes Pasholk in the finals of the Upstate Eight Conference tournament on Saturday afternoon in Batavia, the 220-pounder became the only non-top seed to win an individual championship.

"It was probably the most exciting match of the day," St. Charles East coach Jason Potter said. "I was proud of (how Vela maintained) his composure."

Joey Shump is two matches away from duplicating Logan Arlis' accomplishment of four years ago for Batavia: an undefeated regular season.

The Batavia senior was a machine at 126 pounds, extending his season-long winning streak to 34 matches with two more falls, including a third-period pin against South Elgin senior Cory Pych in the championship.

"Once you get to the regional, everyone is 0-0," Shump said of a possible unblemished season. "I was able get (Pych) on his back and pin him."

Jon Wagner and Brad Kearbey had rehearsed this play before.

Their epic encounter at their schools' dual meet had an encore performance in the finals at 160 pounds, and the results were the same for the Batavia senior.

Wagner had all the offensive points in his 6-1 victory over the St. Charles East senior.

"I didn't relax at any point," Wagner said. "When I got the (penalty point, the opening point, for the illegal) slam, I think that was the turning point of the match."

Brad Martens' defense of his championship was the highlight of the weekend for Geneva.

The senior advanced with a semifinal fall and extended his winning streak to 17 matches at 120 pounds with a 7-2 win over Neuqua Valley junior Justin Killacky.

"Personally, I don't like being the No. 1 seed at a tournament," Martens said. "You get into the mindset that you already have (the title) wrapped up."

Austin Schoen completed his mission and became the second Lake Park wrestler in its history to achieve a perfect conference run.

"We believe (Schoen) is only the ninth person to win four times in the history of the Upstate Eight," Lake Park coach Todd Raymond said.

"The kid I was wrestling was by no means a scrub," Schoen said of his Waubonsie Valley foe. "I was able to control the match for the most part. I wrestled my behind off."

Schoen had previously captured league titles at 112 pounds as a freshman, 125 as a sophomore and 126 last year.

Connor Swier and Andrew Geersz lived up to their reputations for Neuqua Valley.

Swier, a 182-pound senior, scored all the offensive points in his 5-1 triumph over Geneva senior Jake Boser.

But Geers was even more impressive for the Wildcats.

The physically imposing 6-foot-7 heavyweight needed all of two minutes and 10 seconds of cumulative wrestling time to win his third straight 285-pound title.

Twenty-four of Geers' 29 victories, without a loss, have come via pin.

None of his three opponents lasted a minute against Geers this weekend.

"I wanted that O.W. (outstanding wrestler) award," Geers said. "It's hard to do as a heavyweight. (My height) gives me a lot more mobility on the mat."

The distinction of the league Most Valuable Wrestler honors instead went to Bartlett senior Sal Annoreno, the Hawks' reigning Class 3A state champion.

The 138-pounder had two falls to reach the finals and did not surrender a point with a 16-0 run that terminated the match early in the third period.

"It still makes you feel good," Annoreno replied when asked to compare a conference title with a state championship. "Everybody goes harder because you're a state champion. I think I got better on my feet (since last season)."

Elgin crowned a pair of conference champions.

Jeffery Morrow is poised to do some damage in the state series after improving to 25-2 on the season with a 6-0 victory over St. Charles East freshman Anthony Rubino in the finals at 106 pounds.

"I just have been working really hard in the (practice) room," Morrow, a junior, said. "My takedowns were a big advantage for me (in both the semifinals and finals)."

McCullough had to settle for runner-up for the Maroons at 113 pounds, but Ritchie Santana was a tank for the Maroons at 195 pounds.

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